Art World
See 19 of the Cutest and Most Bizarre #DogsInPaintings in Art History
The finest examples of man's best friend ever depicted with a brush.
The finest examples of man's best friend ever depicted with a brush.
Brian Boucher ShareShare This Article
If you love art, dogs, and Twitter, today is your day.
The English art museum Compton Verney is on to something with its celebration of depictions of canines, in its #DogsInPaintings hashtag, now trending on Twitter.
Here is the tweet that started it all:
Calling Art lovers & organisations! We're celebrating #DogsinPaintings on 16 Aug. Tweet art with #DogsinPaintings pic.twitter.com/lkzLTZdnAn
— Compton Verney (@ComptonVerney) August 9, 2016
The Ashmolean Museum reminds us that dogs in art are nothing new:
A dog scratching his ear on an Athenian red-figure cup by the Euergides Painter c. 500 BC #DogsInPaintings pic.twitter.com/ovLqyXL1QV
— Ashmolean Museum (@AshmoleanMuseum) August 16, 2016
We love this little guy, from London’s National Gallery:
The unidentified sitter in this portrait by Catharina van Hemessen holds a small dog under her arm. #DogsInPaintings pic.twitter.com/37v9HRyCVa
— National Gallery (@NationalGallery) August 16, 2016
Marilyn Rust reminisces about this sentimental fave:
Sympathy by Briton Riviere was in the gallery @RoyalHolloway when I was a student there #DogsinPaintings pic.twitter.com/qkFBXsfmGD
— Marilyn Rust (@MazRust) August 16, 2016
Even mighty emperors loved dogs in art. Below is an album leaf painting by Zhu Zhanji (Emperor Xuanzong), who ruled as the Xuande Emperor from 1426-1435:
Ming Xuanzong, 'Two Salukis', 1427. The ones that got away from the #Ming50Years exhibition. #DogsinPaintings pic.twitter.com/KaJx4nxQ1s
— Craig Clunas 柯律格 (@CraigClunas) August 16, 2016
The manuscript illuminators who decorated the Book of Kells had a thing for furry creatures:
Since it's #DogsinPaintings day, here are some dogs & dog analogues from TCD Book of Kells f24r, 165v @ResearchColls pic.twitter.com/NzWZqtuaiE
— Peritia (@PeritiaEditors) August 16, 2016
This terrier has an important call to make, it seems:
A terrier in 1936 publicity artwork for the Gilbert Scott design K6 phone box, 80 yrs old this year #DogsinPaintings pic.twitter.com/2QgInSNdLz
— BT Archives (@BTArchives) August 16, 2016
Hot dogs … get it?
A slightly unconventional #DogsinPaintings by BA Painting graduate Summer Oxley! pic.twitter.com/12MN6pq1Nh
— Wimbledon UAL (@WimbledonUAL) August 16, 2016
Back to regular dogs with this stunning Bronzino:
Bronzino, Portrait of a Lady in Red (Francesca Salviati?), ca. 1533 #DogsinPaintings https://t.co/wICNw49bWU pic.twitter.com/zs7cOtD5S1
— Catherine Fletcher (@cath_fletcher) August 16, 2016
One of art history’s most iconic works harbors a snoozing doggie:
And, #DogsinPaintings is keeping me going today. Here's my fave, a little sleeping dog from Titian's Venus of Urbino pic.twitter.com/tjU7Bza5Nv
— Emily Brand (@EJBrand) August 16, 2016
The National Gallery points out that dogs serve a symbolic function:
The dog featured in Veronese's 'Happy Union' is a symbol of fidelity: https://t.co/Lr2bNXdsNr #DogsInPaintings pic.twitter.com/Fx4LYEvX5y
— National Gallery (@NationalGallery) August 16, 2016
Aw, cute. Look. Dogs acting like people!
One of the most celebrated #DogsinPaintings of the 19th Century: "Trial by Jury" #Landseer https://t.co/dWbqMbJtyj pic.twitter.com/EAl2jD8jJZ
— Chatsworth (@ChatsworthHouse) August 16, 2016
Note the dog collar motif in this clever brooch:
A good day to give the pug another tweet! Brooch by William Bishop Ford, 1875 @BM_AG #DogsinPaintings pic.twitter.com/BA7XOZWY63
— BMAG curators (@BMAGcurators) August 16, 2016
The Ashmolean comes through with this 1931 ink and color on silk hanging scroll:
Dog beneath bamboo, ink on silk by Qizong Zhang https://t.co/lthCVN9wyU #DogsInPaintings pic.twitter.com/tlGBk5zAU9
— Ashmolean Museum (@AshmoleanMuseum) August 16, 2016
The great art critic John Ruskin wasn’t above a little anthropomorphizing:
John Ruskin's watercolour of a dog, copied from the Ormesby Psalter https://t.co/3IopvxSecd #DogsinPaintings pic.twitter.com/bqj7GFRy38
— Ashmolean Museum (@AshmoleanMuseum) August 16, 2016
Most lovable dog ever?
For all dog lovers today, here's A Dog's Head (1815) by William Simson #DogsInPaintings https://t.co/sboKMxKflD pic.twitter.com/WzezX0aEGa
— National Galleries (@NatGalleriesSco) August 16, 2016
Dogs can be modern too, curator Imogen Gibbon says:
Now something slightly more surreal @NatGalleriesSco #DogsinPaintings by Edwin Lucas https://t.co/PwPbZTD2JS pic.twitter.com/T4gQoPUOOC
— Imogen Gibbon (@BoutsofHysteria) August 16, 2016
Here’s a classic:
#DogsinPaintings his masters voice pic.twitter.com/OIEbFo8tfa
— Are We All Asleep ? (@demindblower) August 16, 2016
It’s always sunny … when man’s best friend is around.
Ooooohhh. #DogsInPaintings is trending. This one's my favourite. #itsalwayssunny #wildcard pic.twitter.com/ShbWxVoqxf
— Ciara O'Neill (@ciaraoneill7) August 16, 2016